Spring.



o. P. RANDOLPH. SPRING.

APPLIOA'TION FILED APR. 2B, 1913.

1, 1 12,095. l .y Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

"mfmm l Z 9 unirsi) sra-Tits' PATENT onirica.

CLABEORN P. RANDOLPH, OF EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA,

SPRING.

To all whom, 'it may concer/1t Be it known that I, CLABEORN P. RAN-Specication of Letters Patent.

DoLrn, a citizen of the United States, residingV at El Centro, in thecounty of Imperial and State of California, have invented a new anduseful Spring, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a spring fory moto-r vehicles or otherconveyances, and the object is to provide a spring having greatresiliency and sensitiveness to light loads and which will provide thenecessary sustaining power and stiffness for an increased load withoutdeadening or nullifying its action as a spring for light loads- Afurther obj ect is to also cause the spring to act as a shock absorberto prevent the sudden upward rebound of the body of thev vehicle, thespring acting in reverse order to its downward movement. The ordinaryspring when constructed to carry a heavy load, must needs have such anumber of leaves that the spring is too stiff for light loads, and alsoif a spring is made of Sullicient resisting power to take care oftheseverest shocks sustained by the present spring, the spring willlikewise be too sti to absorb or soften lighter shocks, both of whichdisadvantages are overcome in the present invention.

Referring to the drawings: F igure.1 is a perspective view o-f myinvention showingy how it is applied to a vehicle. Eig. 2 is alongitudinal section of my invention. Fig.

3 is a perspective of the spring hanger andv connecting members.

The spring comprises a center leaf 1, at the center of which on eachside are two half round blocks 2 which are welded there- 1 on. Above theleaf 1 is a series of springs 3 of graded length with recessed centerportions et nested on each other, the innermost ntting the block 2 whichprevents the leaves from slipping with respect to each other and withrespect to the center leaf 1.

Below the center leaf 1 is a similar set of leaves 3. The upper mostleaf 5 supports the frame of the vehicle by spring hanger 6, two plates'Z are also pivoted at their upper ends by botta S. to the end of leaf 5and hanger 6, plates '1? extending downward and being provided with aroller 9 jonrnaled on a pin 10, extending transversely across betweenplates 7, and with a similarly,sup-V ported roller 11 near the lower endof tlie platesD The center leaf t has a transverse I l heaviest loads.

loop 12 through which the roller 9 passes, while the lower leaf 13 has atransverse loop 14. thro-ugh which the lower roller 11 eX- tends.Normally, under a light load the position of the spring is as indicatedin Fig. 1, and during the ordinary up and down movements of the body ofthe vehicle the upper Patented sept. '29, i914.; Applicationmed April2s, i913. srialnavmace. y

leaves 3 through the spring hanger 6 are caused to Hex, at the same timethe plates 7 aremoved upy and down, but under `these normal conditionsunder a light load, and Without excessive shock,the plates 7 do not movethe rollers 9 far enough to cause them to strike the ends of the loopsl2. When a severe shock is encountered the downward movement issutlicient to cause plates 7 to Amove rollers 9 against the lower endslof loops 12,'which then'causes leaf l to assist the upper leavesresisting the pressure, while during the rebound the lower leaf 13 lirstreceives pressure of roller 11. and acts to help the flat leaf 1 andupper leaves 3. lf a still greater shock occurs the plates 7 will movedown far enough to cause rollers llto act against the bottoms of loopsla and cause the lower leaves 3 to share'in resisting the pressure.During therebound or upper n ipvement the three setsl of lea'ves actse-` rially in reverse order to soften the shock. 4With an lincreasedvload the spring acts in a manner similar to that just described, a lightload only causing the upper leaves to operate, a heavier load bringingthe center leaf additionally into operation and a still heavierl loadbringing the lower leaves so that theentire spring then operates for theObviously, when the load lightens the lower leaves are relieved of dutyand with a further lightening of the load the center leaf is relievedfrom duty and the upper leaves alone then act to support the light load,giving the maximum resili 'ency and sensitiveness.

The flat or straight spring acts as a support upon which both the upperand lower springs rock or against whichthey atten themselves and thusthey are relieved of extra strain and breakageis prevented. And in turnthe leaves above and below the center straight leaf' act to support itand prevent breakage, this -supportin function being broughtgradually-into p ay as the dat spring is 'caused to bend either up orvdown and'isthereby made to increase its length'j of contactl with thebowed'leaves above or below.4 In the present case I 'have shown a springhaving a. total of seven leaves which is no more than the ordinarynumber, and yet only three of them are used forlight loads, four forheavier loads, and all seven for still heavier loads, with the resultthat each load is supported by approximately the proper number of leavesand the maximum resiliency is attained under the various loads.

What I claim is l. A spring, comprising a straight center leaf with atransverse loop at each end thereof, leaves above and below the centerleaf, a leaf below the center leaf having a transverse loop in the endsthereof, a leaf above the center leaf connected with the body of thevehicle, plates connected with the body and extending down adjacent saidloops, said plates having rollers which pass through the respectiveloops and which are so spaced as to serially make contact with therespective loops.

2. A spring comprising two oppositely bowed leaves, a center leafbetween the bowed leaves, an axle connection at the center of theleaves, body supports connected to the ends of the leaves, theconnections between the bowed leaves and supports being of differentdegrees of fit allowing one bowed member and the supports to move adefinite amount without bending the other bowed member, the center leafhaving loose connections with the supports allowing a less movement inboth directions of either bowed spring and supports, whereby in the downmovement the three leaves are brought into bending action in oneconsecutive order and in the upward movement are brought into bendingaction in the opposite consecutive order.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles,California, this 16th day of April, 1913.

CLABEORN P. RANDOLPH.

In presence of GEORGE T. HACKLEY, MARTHA M. LANGE.

